Cat House

[catdaddyrt]

catdaddyrt Member Level Monday, 02/27/17 07:58:48 AM
Re: ElisComing post# 177377
Post # of 177383

We had our annual safety day last week and the main speaker turned out to be Everson Walls, one of the best defensive ends in NFL history who played for the Cowboys and Giants. He has an amazing life story it was a nice surprise for a safety meeting.Of course I got him to sign a hat and got a picture with him being the Cowboys fan that I am. The downside is his only super bowl win was with the Giants,lol. JK


catdaddyrt Member Level Monday, 02/27/17 12:10:41 PM
Re: ElisComing post# 177381
Post # of 177383

Well now he and I are the same age so not that long ago

Something I did not know about him that he shared


Ex-Cowboy Walls gives kidney to former teammate
Mar 1, 2007


But less than eight months after the transplant, Springs lapsed into a coma during an operation to remove a cyst from his arm. He never regained consciousness before dying May 12 at age 54 inside Medical City Dallas Hospital.


DALLAS -- Ron Springs and Everson Walls will always share a
bond forged over their years as teammates on the Dallas Cowboys.
That's nothing compared to their newest link -- the kidney Walls
donated to Springs.

Springs and Walls were recovering at Medical City Hospital on
Thursday, a day after becoming the first former U.S. professional
athletes to undergo an organ transplant.

"That's brotherly love," Springs told The Associated Press in
December. "It's something you can't explain, but something that I
will always think about every day for the rest of my life."

The former football stars and their doctors are scheduled to
hold a news conference Friday. The players hope they can inspire
others to become organ donors by sharing their story.

The only other known transplants involving former pro athletes
as donors include Greg Ostertag giving a kidney to his sister in
2002 when he was playing for the Utah Jazz, and basketball Hall of
Famer Oscar Robertson donating a kidney to his daughter in 1997.
Several pro athletes have received an organ, with basketball
players Alonzo Mourning and Sean Elliott returning to play in the
NBA following their ordeals.

Springs, 50, has suffered from diabetes for 16 years and has
been on the national transplant waiting list since 2004. The
disease has led to the amputation of his right foot and the big and
middle toes on his left foot, and caused his hands to curl into
knots. He also was forced into a wheelchair and needed dialysis
three times a week.

Providing his body accepts Walls' kidney, Springs will no longer
need dialysis and can expect his hands to regain their normal form.
He also should again be able to walk on his own.

"It's like getting a new battery in a car," Springs said in
December. "I'll be able to be back to basically almost 100 percent
normal."

Walls, 47, volunteered to be tested after things fell through
with two of Springs' relatives who were perfect matches.

"I said, 'Well, look, I know my blood type is the same as his.
Why not give it a shot and see what happens?"' Walls said in
December.

Springs and Walls became fast friends during Walls' first
training camp with the Cowboys. They played together only four
years (1981-84), but their close relationship continued, enhanced
by their wives and children being close with each other, too.

The duo had wanted to keep the transplant quiet until it
happened, but word leaked in December through Springs' oldest son,
Shawn, who plays cornerback -- Walls' old position -- for the
Washington Redskins.

Ron Springs joined the Cowboys in 1979 and became a starter
alongside Tony Dorsett in '81, the year Walls arrived as an
undrafted rookie from Grambling. Springs left in 1985, finishing
his career with two seasons in Tampa Bay.

Walls led the NFL in interceptions his first two seasons and
again in '85, making him the only three-time leader in NFL history.
He picked off 57 passes and made the Pro Bowl four times over his
14-year career, which included stints with the New York Giants and
Cleveland Browns.